The Steve Laycock team of third Kirk Muyres, second Colton Flasch and lead Dallas Muyres will make its third consecutive trip to the Tim Horton’s Brier, which starts Saturday in Ottawa.

Last year in Calgary, the Nutana Curling Club quartet finished the round robin portion of the event with a 7-4 record. After losing to Team Canada’s John Morris in the 3-4 page playoff game, Saskatchewan won the bronze medal with a 7-5 win over Newfoundland/Labrador.

When asked about his team’s approach to the 2016 Canadian men’s curling championship Laycock said they’re a better team.

“We’ve put in a lot more work, so that’s a big comfort going in. We’re also better prepared having gone through it twice as a team.”

The field for the 2016 championships is impressive. It includes four-time Brier champion Glenn Howard, two-time champion Kevin Koe, and 2006 Olympic gold medalist Brad Gushue.

“We’ve played all these teams a lot on the (2015-16) tour. We’ve played them in the Grand Slams. There’s not a team we haven’t beaten before. For that reason we feel pretty good
about our chances”.

Saskatchewan’s first game is against Northern Ontario (Brad Jacobs) at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.